


One. Ten. Twenty.

by lionessvalenti



Category: White Collar
Genre: Canon Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff, Het, Multi, New Year's Eve, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-04
Updated: 2011-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-14 10:05:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/148102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>New Year's Eve was their night in a way that even their anniversary couldn't cover.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	One. Ten. Twenty.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta read by amy1705fl.

_Year One_  
New Year's Eve was special in a way it had never been special before Elizabeth met Peter. Elizabeth's past New Year's Eves had been full of drinking too much at Helena's party and kissing strangers and friends at midnight. Usually, the combination of the two left her waking up naked in someone's bed, or once on the floor, the two of them covered by a tablecloth.

Now, on the last night of 1999, Elizabeth and Peter walked hand-in-hand into their first New Year's Eve celebration since they got married just two months before.

With everyone making a big deal about the end of the millennium and the Y2K bug (which seemed to be more hype than anything, as things were fine everywhere else in the world where it was already 2000), Elizabeth hadn't been paying attention. The holidays had been a blur, between all of the regular stress, and still winding down from the wedding, the honeymoon, and settling into her new marriage.

But she didn't forget New Year's Eve and the party. Because it was special.

The year before, Elizabeth had brought Peter to Helena's party. They had only been dating for four months, and there were a lot of her friends that he hadn't met yet. The party was perfect.

Peter, however, wasn't a fan of parties. They were crowded and loud, and you had to yell to hear the person next to you. But he had smiled and shaken everyone's hands and repeated their names back to them, as though he would actually remember them from year-to-year when they attended this party. He was doing good to remember the names of her friends that he saw semi-regularly.

Around 11:57, everyone had turned to the television, Peter had wrapped his arm around Elizabeth's waist, and she leaned against him. She'd never felt anything like the way she felt when she was with him. When the clock flipped to 11:59 and the countdown began, Peter had nudged her.

"Yeah?" Elizabeth tilted her head up to meet his eyes.

He had unwound his arm from around her, and reached into his pocket. She'd glanced down at what was in his hand: a ring with a small, yet classy diamond set in white gold.

She felt her eyes widen, and she had stared up at him for a moment, until he asked, "Will you marry me?"

"Yes! Yes, yes!" She had thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him, and they had kissed all the way into the new year.

A year later, back at Helena's house in Queens, Elizabeth still could still feel the warmth of that moment.

"You want a drink?" Peter asked once they were out of their coats.

"Yeah, whatever you're having," she replied, knowing he'd get a beer. Just as he disappeared into the crowd, Helena squeezed through out of nowhere, like she had some kind of Elizabeth-detector, and pulled her into a hug.

"I haven't seen you since the wedding!" Helena exclaimed. "How's it going?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Great. Everything's... " She grinned. "Everything's great. I've honestly never been happier than I am right now."

"So the honeymoon's not over yet?" Helena asked, raising a mischievous eyebrow.

"We're... I suppose we're still in the honeymoon, but reality's creeping in." Elizabeth shrugged. "Peter works a lot. It's taking some getting used to, but it's not like I don't have a life of my own to keep me busy. It's kind of been non-stop. But I'm..."

"You look fuckin' happy," Helena said. She waved a hand around Elizabeth's face. "There's a glow. Enjoy it now, because it won't last. Believe me, I speak from experience, after five years, the glow will be gone. Gone."

Elizabeth laughed. "I'll try to appreciate my glow, then."

"Have people started asking you when you're going to have kids yet?"

"No, but I think they're waiting to see if the world will end at midnight first. Besides, the answer is, 'Definitely not now, maybe never, I'll keep you posted'."

Helena laughed. "Good answer, but they won't listen." She paused when Peter came back through, beers in hand. "And here's the glowmaster himself!"

Peter blinked at her, giving her the most bewildered expression. Elizabeth couldn't help it, she laughed. Not only was he adorable, but she got to keep him forever.

"Don't worry about it, hon. Thank you." She took one of the beers from him. "Apparently, I'm radiating happiness."

"Oh, well, then." Peter kissed her temple and smiled. "I'll take credit for that."

The night wore on and as midnight approached, Peter pulled Elizabeth into a darkened corner away from the crowd and the noise.

"Remember what we doing this time last year?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair. Elizabeth felt her heart start pounding. This was different. He was always sweet, but he wasn't often romantic or nostalgic.

"Why I believe you were proposing," she replied. She brought her hand up to his face and stroked the backs of her fingers against his cheek.

He kissed her and mumbled, "Best decision I ever made. You make me so happy."

For a moment, Elizabeth wondered if Peter'd had more to drink than she had noticed, but she put the thought out of her mind. It wasn't important. She slipped her hands around the back of his neck and kissed him, pulling him closer to her. She could hear the countdown, but she had no desire to join in as they kissed into a new millennium.

 

 _Year Ten_  
The plan was simple. The New Year's gala started at seven, and Elizabeth would be there for the set up (when things were most likely to go wrong), and taking care of the catering and alcohol orders as they came in. Peter was supposed to arrive around eight, and at that time, Elizabeth would hand the party over to Yvonne.

From there, she and Peter could just enjoy the party. The clients were laid back and friendly, and they had taken to her, telling her that anyone she wanted to invite was welcome and the more the merrier. She took them at their word, if the extensive alcohol order was anything to go by.

However, Peter was the only one she wanted there. New Year's Eve was their night in a way that even their anniversary couldn't cover. Maybe it was because Peter could actually remember the date and the significance of it. More than once, Elizabeth wondered if that was really his plan when he proposed to her that night.

(The truth was, after carrying the ring around in his pocket for over a month, Peter had promised himself he would propose before the end of the year and he had simply run out of time.)

Elizabeth hadn't actually expected Peter to arrive at eight. She knew he and Neal were working on an important case that had been plaguing them for nearly two weeks. They had worked through Christmas. Probably not the way Neal wanted to spend his first Christmas since getting out of prison, but maybe he had appreciated the distraction with Kate being god-only-knows where. Elizabeth didn't think it was her place to ask.

When her phone rang at ten 'til nine, Elizabeth had a sinking feeling. "Hey, honey," she said when she had stepped away from the main room of the party. She kicked off her shoes, giving her feet a moment's relief. She should have known better than to break in her new shoes at work.

"Hey, how's the party going?" Peter asked. He didn't sound uninterested, exactly. It was more like he was trying to sound involved when he would rather take a nap.

"Good. Nothing major has fallen apart." She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Are you calling to cancel on me?"

"No, I'm not. I'm just calling to tell you that I'm running late. I'm heading out the door to the garage now. Neal was crawling the walls and driving me crazy, apparently he had plans, and I'm going to meet you anyway." His voice got a little static-y, and she wondered how far into the garage he was. "I'll be there."

Elizabeth smiled. "Peter, you sound dead on your feet."

"I'm fine. It was just a long day. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow."

"Why don't you just go home? I'm serious, you sound like you're going to fall asleep the second you hit a red light. I don't want to drag you around the gala if you're going to be a zombie."

"There is no possible way to fall asleep at the wheel in New York," Peter said. "If you do, a hundred angry motorists will attack your car. You'll wake up pretty fast."

"Not the point," Elizabeth replied, chuckling. "Get some rest."

"And miss New Year's Eve?"

She paused. In all the time they'd known each other, they'd never missed a New Year's Eve together. She sighed. "It's not like it won't be there next year. And we'll have all day tomorrow to spend together."

"Oh, honey, thank you," Peter murmured in her ear, sounding more tired than ever, like he had been holding it in to sound awake for her benefit. "I'll make this up to you. Strawberry pancakes in the morning?"

Elizabeth smiled. "Sounds great. I love you."

"I love you too."

She ended the call and slipped her phone back into her handbag. She could go home and crawl in bed with Peter and even if they wouldn't be awake, they'd be together. But instead, she put her shoes back on and went to find Yvonne.

"Hey, didn't you say you had a party you were missing to be here?" Elizabeth asked after pulling Yvonne aside.

"Yeah, but--"

"Peter's not coming. He sounded tired on the phone, so I sent him home. If you want to go to your party, I can take care of everything here."

"Are you sure?" Yvonne asked. "I don't mind staying if you want to go home, too."

Elizabeth shook her head. "Go have fun."

Yvonne grinned. "Thank you, Elizabeth, really. Be sure to have a drink. I don't think anyone will notice."

"I will. I'll see you on Monday."

After Yvonne left, Elizabeth made her rounds around the gala, making sure everything was still perfect. She tried to concentrate on work and the party, and even had that drink she promised she would. Only as the countdown to the new year began, did Elizabeth feel a twinge of loneliness.

The gala wound down after that, and Elizabeth decided to splurge on a cab home instead of taking the subway. She didn't want to wait through stops on the surely tourist-crowded train. Besides, she didn't want to think about the walk from the station back to the house.

The traffic was terrible and it still took forever, but at least she could sit back and relax.

It was nearly two in the morning when she finally arrived home. She kicked off her stupid shoes by the door and walked upstairs, already pulling at the zipper on the side of her dress. In the bedroom, she tripped over Satchmo trying to get out of her dress, then tripped over him again after he had moved while she was pulling on her pajamas.

Finally, Elizabeth crashed into bed, and she shivered; her side of the bed was _freezing_. She moved as close to the center of the bed as she could, snuggling against Peter.

He rolled over and groaned. "Hey. What time is it?"

"Late," she mumbled, wrapping an arm around his chest. "It's 2010. Happy new year."

Peter kissed her softly before mumbling, "Happy new year."

And in the morning, Peter made strawberry pancakes.

 

 _Year Twenty_  
Elizabeth sat forward to refill her wine glass, emptying the bottle. When she sat back, Peter wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She sighed contentedly and snuggled under his arm.

A quiet New Year's Eve was exactly what they needed. As far as years went, it had been one of the more stressful ones and to end it on a note of calm sounded perfect. No parties and no work. Just them at home, as a family.

"It's almost time. He's going to miss it," Elizabeth said.

"Neal!" Peter called. "You're going to miss the ball dropping!"

"Coming!" Neal came out of the kitchen, a newly opened bottle of wine in his hand. He was wearing the blue cashmere sweater Elizabeth had gotten him for Christmas. "The cork was giving me trouble."

"Did you use the new opener?" Peter asked.

Neal sat down on Elizabeth's other side and shook his head. "I told you, I don't like it."

Peter rolled his eyes. "If you had used it, you wouldn't have had trouble with the cork."

"I got it out fine," Neal replied, probably sounding more annoyed than he was. He filled his glass and sat down, crossing one leg over the other.

Elizabeth looked at him. "Why aren't you wearing socks? Aren't your feet cold?"

Neal shook his head. "No, they're not. It's warm in here. Besides," he said, flashing her a grin, "when we get into bed, I can just put them on you and they'll warm right up."

"Oh, no you won't." She tried to keep a stern face, but cracked a smile. It was hard to resist when Neal was sitting there grinning at her. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "I can get back at you for it at some point in the future anyway."

"I'm sure you can," he replied, laying on the innuendo.

Elizabeth laughed and turned her attention to the television. "There it goes!"

"You know," Neal said, "that watching this ball drop is a really touristy tradition. It's for people who don't come to New York to watch it on TV and for people who do come to New York to stand in Times Square and watch it happen because they only know how to get to the Statue of Liberty and back. I find it ridiculous for us to sit in Brooklyn and watch this."

"They can probably make it to the Empire State Building too," Elizabeth said, and Neal snorted.

"Are you done with your elitist ranting?" Peter asked, looking around Elizabeth at him. "We go through this every year. We like our tradition. It could be worse, I could insist that we all go to Times Square."

"Oh, please," Neal said. "You complain about slow tourists on the sidewalks more than I do."

"To be fair," Elizabeth said, resting a hand on Peter's knee, "we like making out to the ball drop more than watching it."

Peter grinned. "In that case..." He closed the small gap between then and pressed his mouth to hers. She held her wine glass out, like she could reach the coffee table with it, until she felt Neal take it out of her hand for her. With her hand free, she wrapped it around the back of Peter's neck and kissed him deeper. After a moment, she felt Neal's hand in her hair, moving it out of the way, and his lips pressing against her neck.

Elizabeth moaned, not sure which one to lean toward. It was a good problem to have. With twenty seconds to go until midnight, she pulled back from Peter and turned to Neal. She kissed him slowly, running her hand over the soft fabric of his new sweater.

Neal pulled away at the sound of cheering on the television. "I think I stole your traditional midnight kiss."

"Old habits die hard, don't they?" Peter grinned and leaned across Elizabeth to snag his own kiss from Neal.

Elizabeth ran her hand through Peter's hair. She had no idea it was going to be this good when she said yes to him twenty-one years before. And with Neal, there had been no way to know how the change, the risk they took, would affect their marriage, but after nearly four years, the answer was clear: they would be just fine.

"You can't let that go, can you?" Neal asked, eyes shining, his face still only inches from Peter's.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who likes it when I get out the handcuffs."

"Speaking of," Elizabeth said before Neal could reply, "I think we should take this party upstairs."

"Wise decision," Neal said, lifting his face to kiss her cheek. He leaned forward and grabbed the wine bottle and his glass. "I'll take this and you guys get the lights?"

"We'll meet you," she replied.

As Neal disappeared upstairs, Peter turned off the television and Elizabeth started switching off lamps. When the downstairs was almost completely dark, Peter pulled Elizabeth into his arms.

"I love you," he mumbled, and she was reminded of the first New Year's Eve after they were married.

"I love you too." She kissed him. "Think we'll still be doing this in another twenty years?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know if I'll be able to stay up until midnight when I'm seventy-five."

"Neal and I will wake you up. Don't worry."

"Then, yes. Definitely. New Year's Eve, twenty years from now. It's a date."

"Are you two coming?" Neal called from upstairs. "I'm drinking all the wine and getting naked, and you're missing it!"

Elizabeth laughed and took a step back. "We don't want to miss that." She grabbed her glass off the table, and the two of them went upstairs, hand-in-hand, to join Neal.

It was going to be a happy new year.


End file.
